“The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.”  (Psalm 14)

“…that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of [H]im from the creation of the world are clearly seen…”                                                                                                                                        (Romans 1)

 

There is a restaurant chain called, “Famous Daves.”  This chain or franchise is known for their many meat dishes.  At the entrance to this restaurant there is a small sign that says, “We love vegitarians, they make us laugh.”  This can be adopted by Christ-ianity in reference to that species of the human race called atheists.  “We love atheists, they make us laugh.”  I know, I know we should mourn over the atheist. It is true we should mourn over the individual atheist, but we can shake our heads and mock atheism in general.

The truth is however, there does not exist such an animal. In Scripture we find the refutation of the so-called atheist.  In Romans one (1) the Bible dispels the notion of the true atheist. Paul tells us they see creation and know there is God as well as an internal witness that tells them that God is.  In Psalm fourteen (14) we read. “The fool hath said in his heart there is no God”  but in their mind they know God is.

I read something about atheism on Fb today and one of the comments mocked atheism with the following, “There is no God and I hate Him,” I think that is a perfect summary of atheism. Eight (8) one (1) syllable words sums it up perfectly.  There be no Christ-ians running around trying to disprove the existence of Molech or Baal.  The Christ-ian frets not over these two (2) or any of the O.T. false gods, why?  They exist not, they were shell companies for (s)atan’s false religions.  But the atheist, I mean the active and militant atheist kicks and screams against the Godhead, Why?  They know He is and it is as simple as that.

In my way of thinking there are three (3) types of atheists. There is the professing Christ-ian that denies God in their everyday life, there is the quiet atheist that simply thinks not of God and goes about their business with no thought of God or the soul, then there is my favourite, the militant atheist, the Evangelical Atheist, who goes about witnessing to God’s non-existence.

The “Christ-ian” atheist is the person that says they believe in God, they might even attend church but in their everyday life, in their practices and in their principles, will, and actions, they deny Christ over and over and over.  There are many “Christ-ian” atheist, you reader, may be one yourself.
King Saul is the perfect example of this type of atheist, King Saul spoke a good game, Saul spent time with men of God and outwardly professed God, but in truth Saul was an apostate waiting to implode.  King Saul killed many, many priests of God, Saul over-stepped into the office of priest when he had no right and God rejected him for this. Saul also sought to kill God’s true king over and over again.  King Saul stands as the example of the “Christ-ian” atheist.

The quiet atheist never has much to say about God and certainly nothing to God.  This atheist might be politically sound, this type may be a decent man, a good husband and a good father.  This type generally has nothing to say about God, God simply finds no place in his thoughts.  There are many atheist of this sort. This atheist will not get into discussions about religion and will simply go about his way. This type is generally harmless, they hurt no one except themselves and their family through their obliviousness to all things God. Though they be quiet and generally harmless to most, they will still face God’s judgment.

Then there is my favourite atheist, the militant. These be my favourites for a variety of reasons. One (1) reason is i Love to see them come to faith when God reveals Himself to their unbelief and causes them to believe and serve Him as a spiritual pitbull.  There is many of these in history. Saul/Paul of Tarsus was an atheist…yes, he believed in Jehovah but denied Christ, thus he was an atheist of sorts. This man was a great plague to Christ-ianity, he was a plague against Christ-ians as God was a plague against Egypt.  This man lived and breathed to condemn, persecute, and imprison Christ-ians. This man was a serial persecutor.  He was the cause of much pain that was felt for years and years in the Christ-ian community. Yet God chose this man to be His greatest witness to the gentile world. Paul was one of the great trophies of grace.

Then there is Saint Augustine. Augustine was a very worldly wise man given to many vices. Augustine denied the God of his mother by his words, actions, ways, and influence. Augustine’s mother, Monica prayed for years for her intellectually gifted son. Augustine was very, very sexually promiscuous, he had a bastard son and though no one says it, he might even have experimented with homosexuality with his very beloved and longtime companion.  Augustine was pompous, arrogant, and intellectually boundless.  BUT GOD.

Augustine was in his rear garden and heard the words, “Pick up the book and read.”  Augustine saw no children, could not think of any children’s songs or games that included those words and was then driven to open the Scriptures.  Augustine’s eyes landed upon the Romans 13:14, “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”  Augustine was never the same and neither was Christ-ianity.

Augustine is claimed by the Catholic church but he is none of their’s.  Augustine is the grand-father of the reformation, Both Luther and Calvin learned at the feet of Augustine, in the bookish sense. Augustine wrote upon and taught all the main and major doctrines of the Christ-ian faith.  Humanly speaking, Augustine, like Athanasius before him, saved Christian-ity from heresy.  Humanly speaking, without Augustine, we all would be crossing ourselves and confessing to a man in a box.

The importance and value of Augustine cannot be over-stated. Augustine’s works on the Trinity cannot be bettered, his “Confessions” is a spiritual high. He has commentaries on Psalms, John, and a small commentary on Romans, Augustine wrote on politics, and his Enchiridon is helpful as a Christ-ian handbook.. One should begin with his “Confessions” if one desires to explore a great and godly and God-filled mind and one should desire to explore a great and godly and God-filled mind, Right? Right.

Yet another militant atheist was C.S. Lewis.  This man “lost faith” when he was nine (9) years old after he had prayed for his mother’s healing and was denied. His mother’s death ended his faith.  Lewis wrote much against God and mocked Christ-ians and even debated Christ-ians. Lewis is the perfect example of being very “angry with God for not existing.” Lewis had a rough childhood and a tough time in boarding school. One (1) of his instructor was committed to an asylum. Lewis wrote home to his father promising to kill himself if he was not removed from his boarding school. Lewis, being taken seriously by his father, was pulled from that school. [SideNote: All good fathers take their children seriously.  If my one of my children told me there was a ghost, spirit, demon in their roon, I would take her seriously, anything any of my children said would be taken seriously and considered with soberness].

After being pulled from the abusive boarding school Lewis was sent to an old friend and teacher of his father and brother.  This teacher’s name is William T. Kirkpatrick. William T. Kirkpatrick is also called “the Great Knock.” Metinks that name is due to his ability to knock down illogical fallacies or maybe he was known for knocking on doors loudly. W.T. Kirkpatrick is a very interesting person to study.  W.T.K. was the headmaster of a school in Scotland and was a teacher in the Presbyterian Church. Lewis called W.T.K. the embodiment of pure logic. On Sundays W.T.K. would dress in his finest and would work in his garden.  The sad thing about W.T.K. is one day he woke up and became an atheist, out of no where.

W.T.K. would make Lewis who Lewis would become, Humanly speaking.  Lewis was taught languages, logic, literature, and math by this embodiment of God-less logic. Lewis was so inculcated by Kirkpatrick that he began to dream in other languages. Here was Lewis a militant atheist, being taught and mentored by a former Calvinist turned quiet athiest and yet….and yet, Lewis would become one (1) of the great apologists and writers for the common faith and some wonder if God has a sense of humour.

An atheist turned deist for now is Anthony Flue.  This atheist wrote a book called, “There is No God” when he was a younger man. Flue is the son of a preacher, but he grew up to deny Christ, not only deny Christ but to fight against His very existence. Years later as an old man Flue re-published his book, “There is no God” but this time there is a line through the word no. Flue came to his senses, like all prodigals must do and he realized God is.  Flue is no Christ-ian, but a deist. A deist acknowledges A God that is impersonal toward His creation. This seems to be the route many militant atheist walk, Atheism to Deism to Christ-ianity.

I love to see the militany atheist be turned to God and there have been many because God is in the Christ-ian making business. If the heart of a king is in the hand of the LORD, then so is the atheist’s. We have my eye on a few atheists that thinks me will turn to God.

The really sad type of atheist however, is the professing Christ-ian that denies God in all their ways while they lean upon their own understanding. These, I call practical atheists. In name they may be Christ-ian, in principle and politic they may be Christ-ian, but in practice and in the outward workings of their will and imagination, and future expectations they utterly deny God. What is scary is these professing Christ-ians/practical atheists might not even know they are denying God. When a Christ-ian does not acknowledge God in all his ways and does not keep God in all his thinking, that Christ-ian is essentially and practically, an atheist.

Another reason I love the militant atheist is they be fodder for my faith. i know that sounds mean and nasty and maybe it is but …..wait for it…. wait for it…..It is what it is.

The militant atheist proves the Bible’s description of the atheist everytime. In their denial of God and His Word, they prove His Word and His Being. The atheist can be likened unto the man that looks at the sky and calls it green and looks at grass and calls it blue. The atheist is the criminal that sees himself on video but denies it is him. The atheist is the person who denies God while everything in their life is screaming God. The atheist is like the holocaust denier, the holocaust is documented, there is film documenting the holocaust, there are books documenting the holocaust, and there are living persons who endured the holocaust. But the Holocaust denier still says, “There was no Holocaust.” The reason the atheist is like the Holocaust denier is because the holocaust is within keeping with God’s pattern. God puts the Jew to captivity. It is an on going trend and is a pattern. To acknowledge the holocaust is to acknowledge the Pattern and to acknowledge the Pattern is to Acknowledge God.

We could go on and on profiling the atheist, but we think what is written is sufficient.

Godspeed.